Page 81 of The Last One You Loved

We rocked slowly to a stop, returning to the earth and the bed. I rolled, taking her with me, attempting to keep myself tucked inside her because I was unwilling to rend us in two again. She rested her head on my chest, playing with the dusting of hair there as my fingers slid back and forth over her shoulder.

“I thought you said we were going to take a bath first?” she teased.

I chuckled and finally moved away but only long enough to pick her up and toss her over my shoulder. She squealed, slapping my back as I headed for the giant tub I had in my bathroom for no reason other than Mila liked pretending she was a mermaid in it.

Now, it had a new purpose—an entirely grown-up purpose.

I set McK down on the edge, tossed the condom, and started the water.

She looked around the space.

“This feels like you. Much more than the other areas of the house.”

I smiled. “I didn’t let Mama or my sisters have any control here.”

“They decorated for you?”

I shrugged. “They had a say. I wanted it to feel like a home and not some bachelor cave.”

I stepped into the tub as it started to fill and held out my hand. She took it, climbing in with me. When we sat down, I pulled her back into my chest and reached for the soap, slowly working it over her skin leisurely, tantalizingly, tempting her to react. Her breath grew choppy again.

“God, I love the sound of you,” I whispered into her ear, placing a kiss there. Hoping I’d be able to keep her. Hoping every sound and breath and look and touch would be mine forever.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

MCKENNA

BREATHE

“The whole world just fades away

The only thing I hear

Is the beating of your heart

Performed by Faith Hill

Written by Lamar / Bentley

The first timewe’d made love in the bed, it had shattered my soul. I’d left my barriers down, leaving me raw and open just like he’d asked me to. It had enhanced everything we’d done. Each touch had felt more significant. Each kiss and nip had found a new purpose.

In the tub, the second time we made love, it felt like another promise, one I was making to him in return. Forget the years and miles that had come between us. Live for this. These special moments, lost in each other.

“I’m on the pill,” I told him as I’d straddled him in the water. “I’m clean.”

His eyes widened as he got my meaning, and his dick pulsed between my thighs.

“I’m clean,” he grunted, lifting me so I could come down on top of him.

The fullness I felt with him there…the completeness… There weren’t enough words to describe it. Home. Family. Us.

The water sloshed around us, up and over the sides as we moved. Our pace was fast and furious, as if we were trying to catch up on years we’d missed. My heart was pounding, body soaring, tightening, quivering.

“Come for me, McK,” Maddox said, fingers sliding between us, touching my tight bundle of nerves, and I did, quivering, shaking, calling his name again.

He followed, slamming into me with a growl and moan and something that sounded like a prayer.

I rested my cheek on his shoulder as our pace slowed and the water came to a stop. My arms around him squeezed, and he returned the motion, tightening until I let out a breathy laugh.